Yemen still in state of crisis...

[the_future_modernes]

Yemen’s Useful Tyranny – The Forgotten History of Britain’s ‘Dirty War’: Part 1

All revolutions are not equal. While Libya is deemed worthy of the West’s ‘humanitarian intervention’ – express delivery by B-2 bomber, F-15 fighter and cruise missile – protesters elsewhere have been denied such Western largesse. In response to the atrocities in Yemen, for example, Obama has sent mere words. The reason, as one astute commentator notes, is that Yemen’s dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh is a ‘useful tyrant’.

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Last December, US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks revealed that Yemen and the United States had colluded in attacks on ‘Al-Qaida terrorist targets’ and had agreed to deceive the public by claiming that US strikes were actually Yemeni strikes. Saleh told Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser, John Brennan, in September 2009: ‘I have given you an open door on terrorism, so I am not responsible.’ (‘US embassy cables: Bomb al-Qaida where you want, Yemen tells US, but don't blame us if they strike again’, guardian.co.uk, December 3, 2010, 21.29 GMT)
So while Saleh's government publicly stated that its own forces were responsible for ‘counterterror’ operations, the leaked cables detailed a secret deal to allow the US to carry out cruise missile attacks on targets. The first strike in December 2009 killed dozens of civilians along with ‘wanted jihadis.’
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So why IS Yemen so poor and thus easily manipulated to continue to be poor?

Yemen’s Useful Tyranny – The Forgotten History of Britain’s ‘Dirty War’: Part 2

Using declassified government files, historian Mark Curtis has exposed Britain's ‘dirty war’ in Yemen in the 1960s, which he describes as one of the ‘least known aspects of recent British history’. The war lasted almost a decade under both Tory and Labour governments, and cost around 200,000 lives.

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Curtis describes how, in September 1962, the Imam of North Yemen was overthrown in a popular coup. Until then, 80 per cent of the population had lived as peasants under a feudal system of government, with control maintained by graft, a coercive tax system, and a policy of divide and rule. The coup was led by Arab nationalists within the Yemeni military who supported Egypt's reformist president Gamal Abdel Nasser. In turn, Nasser sent troops to bolster the new Republican government. Royalist forces supporting the deposed Imam fled to the hills and began an insurgency backed by Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Curtis notes that Britain ‘soon resorted to covert action to undermine the new Republican regime, in alliance with the Saudis and Jordanis’. British officials privately recognised that they were thus supporting a ‘monopoly of [royal] power’ that was ‘much resented’ by the Yemenis. But the Foreign Office's 'pragmatic' concern was that the nationalist uprising might spread to neighbouring Aden, then a UK colony, where Britain was ‘supporting similarly feudal elements against strong popular, nationalist feeling.’
Why? For longstanding reasons of ‘national interest’. Curtis explains:

‘The military base at Aden was the cornerstone of British military policy in the Gulf region, in which Britain was then the major power, directly controlling the sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf and with huge oil interests in Kuwait and elsewhere.’

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And in the present day:

Hundreds wounded in Yemen protests

As many as 1,600 people have been injured in the Yemeni city of Taiz after police reportedly used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse pro-democracy protesters in the city's main square, Al Jazeera has learnt.

A sit-in was held in the square on Sunday as part of nationwide anti-government protests. According to witnesses, police also opened fire above the heads of protesters, and used batons to disperse the crowds.

Medical sources said most of the injuries were from tear gas inhalation.
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Fresh clashes in restive Yemeni city

Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes have opened fire during protests in the city of Taiz in southern Yemen, a day after clashes there killed 15 people, witnesses said.

Hundreds of security troops attacked tens of thousands of protesters, witnesses told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday adding, plain-clothed policemen were wielding bats and daggers.

They said several people had been hurt, but there was no word yet from medical sources on casualties.

Protesters responded to the attack by hurling rocks at the security forces.
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April 1 Thousands attend rival rallies in Yemen

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, both for and against president Ali Abdullah Saleh, raising fears fresh confrontations between the two sides.

State television showed pictures on Friday of thousands of people on the streets near the presidential palace, waving flags and banners in support of the country's leader.

At the same time the opposition movement told Al Jazeera that they have hundreds of thousands of people, in over 15 provinces in Yemen, on the streets demanding Saleh end his 32-year long rule.

"They said it was the biggest protest that they'd seen in the seven weeks or so that they have been coming out every Friday," our correspondent in Sanaa, who cannot be named for security reasons, said.

"This really is turning into a battle or competition between the opposition and president Saleh as to who can get more people out on the streets."MORE

Gulf states ask Yemen sides to Riyadh talks: Kuwait

(Reuters) - Gulf Arab states have invited Yemeni government and opposition representatives to talks in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait's foreign minister said Monday, in a bid to end the crisis after weeks of anti-government protest.
Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah told Reuters the offer was extended after a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Sunday.
"After Riyadh, on the GCC level, we have decided to invite both the (Yemen) government and opposition representatives to Riyadh to resolve the impasse on some specific issues," he said, declining to provide further details.
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Yemen toll rises as U.S. seen pressing Saleh to go

There were signs of mounting U.S. pressure on Saleh to go. The New York Times said on Monday Washington had "quietly shifted positions" and "concluded that he is unlikely to bring about the required reforms and must be eased out of office."

U.S. ROLE

Analysts and diplomats predicted more behind-the-scenes pressure on Saleh from Western countries to end the crisis.

"The next step is putting aid to Yemen on the table and saying that there are going to be serious consequences if Saleh continues to use violence against his own people," said Shadi Hamid, an analyst at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.

The Obama administration has not so publicly urged Saleh to step aside. Such calls were key in bringing an end to the rule of Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine bin Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

Sources close to the talks have said Washington gave Saleh an ultimatum last week to agree on a deal negotiated by the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa to ensure a peaceful exit and transition of power, otherwise it would publicly call on him to step down.

Opposition sources say talks have stalled because Saleh is maneuvering to ensure he and his family do not face prosecution over corruption accusations raised by the opposition.
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